Beyond the Chocolate's Taste
by wintrMoon
Summary: Failed attempts to recreate her ruined perfect chocolate present for Dark Yugi on Valentine's Day frustrate Anzu, convincing her that there's no way he could ever accept such a substandard gift from her. But it doesn't mean that Dark Yugi shares the same opinion. Oneshot. Season 0. Revolutionshipping.


_Hi everyone! Here's just a little something for Valentine's Day, inspired by a scene from a certain show and the stuff I've read and tried about chocolate. It's a one-shot work, this time set to Season 0 (or a little past canon). The title might be changed in the future, and I'm sorry for any mistakes here that you might spot but I wasn't able to catch. _

_The line breaks are just to separate the scenes but not the POV, which would shift at some points along the way. _

_Just to avoid confusion, please note that here, Anzu is referring to Dark Yugi as "Yugi" whenever she's talking to him directly or at least believes that she does and as "Other Yugi" whenever she talks ___about/_to him indirectly or in her thoughts._

_As always, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

* * *

She didn't know why it had to be today.

_Just great._

She didn't know why of all times something bad could happen to her, it _had_ to be on Valentine's Day.

_What rotten luck._

She didn't know why the actual one time she painstakingly made chocolate for someone special, on her way to school, she _had_ to come across a child crossing the street who was about to get run over by a speeding vehicle and, out of the goodness of her heart, dash and leap forth to save him, only for her to hit a nearby wall in the process. Why her schoolbag on her back took the impact for her and consequently why her carefully prepared gift, of all the ones she had brought, became nothing but useless pieces of broken chocolate. Why, as she was examining the damaged goods in her hands, someone _had _to accidentally knock her down in his hurry to go to school, sending the chocolate pieces to the ground.

_What _pure_ rotten luck._

She didn't understand at all. It was as though the planets had suddenly decided to align themselves to cast misfortune on mankind, particularly on her.

_And to think I spent the entire night putting so much effort just to make the chocolate right!_ she thought in annoyance. _Just to make it perfect._

Of course, she wanted it to be so. After all, how could she even consider the thought of her savior, that young man she had fallen for, of receiving anything less? Of course, there were chocolates in stores that offered a finer quality, but Anzu didn't want to settle for that. Store-bought chocolate was so impersonal, lacking the sincerity, effort and emotion she would like to channel. But more importantly, a gift would also reflect who its receiver was based on the giver's understanding of him.

And after hours of laboring for the right proportions of ingredients, she had already made such a gift. Dark chocolate with just the right mild sweetness and a hint of liquor―mysterious, powerful, deadly, if she may... yet with a caring side, everything contained in the traditional Valentine shape that represented _his_ heart, not hers. All that was left was for her to meet him later at five o'clock in the afternoon, give it to him and tell him what her true feelings for him were. The obligation and friend chocolates_―_Anzu had already distributed those this morning. Now she was supposed to take the rest of the day slowly and enjoy it with its romantic atmosphere.

But here she was, inside the Home Economics classroom, pushing her best to recreate the exact chocolate with little time to spare due to all the school activities she was obliged to participate in. How she hated to cram, especially on something as important as this.

_This would have been quicker and easier to do if only I had the exact ingredients as last night. __Strange, though. __Why does every store I've gone to have to run out of stock of everything I need? It's like all the girls in Domino City want their chocolate homemade or something._ Now she was left with nothing but substitutes—unsweetened chocolate, table sugar and such, ingredients she had to buy on the spot but without an exact recipe to use them with or to follow—using only logic and last night's experience to improvise. Not that the entire busy day would let her search for a recipe anyway.

Anzu pushed the thought away as she melted unsweetened chocolate for the fourth time, this time utilizing a double boiler; surprisingly, using the microwave had inconvenienced her in her efficiency. Glancing at the other ingredients on the counter, she tried not to frown. Not only were they rather incomplete in kind, they were very limited in amount, the quantity as far as her allowance could afford. She could only hope they would be enough, which meant she had to be wise on how to use them. So she had been experimenting with different ratios in small amounts to save as much as she could, the final batch reserved for making the intended gift should she finally get the proportions right.

But so far, her previous attempts had yielded nothing successful.

Removing the bowl of melted chocolate from the heat, she quickly mixed in an adjusted amount of honey, sugar and butter. She added some vanilla as well, hoping it would somehow make up for the lack of liquor flavor in giving dimension. When she found the taste seemingly all right, she transferred the mixture into another container and placed it inside the refrigerator to cool it.

But when she took it out later and sampled it, the chocolate didn't turn out as sweet as she had tasted, yet her tongue could feel the rough grains of the sugar coursing against it. _No._ She rinsed her mouth of the taste with a glass of water, as she had been doing between every trial to judge the taste properly.

She glanced at the wall clock. Thirty-five minutes left before five o'clock, still with no good results. _If I knew everything would end up like this, I wouldn't have asked him to meet me,_ she thought, remembering the note she had left Dark Yugi yesterday through the regular Yugi.

Would he _even_ appear before her for just a relatively casual reason? Anzu had hoped before that, for her sake, he would without her life needing to be endangered first, even just this once. Now she wasn't sure if it was such a good idea.

But it was too late to back out now. She had to speed up this trial-and-error process. _Maybe if I melt the sugar... Not enough honey... Maybe if I add more sugar and vanilla..._

So she repeated her procedure, this time modifying it with the ideas and estimated amounts in her mind. But when the chocolate cooled down and she took a bite, immediately she spat it out in disgust, washing her mouth and tongue with more water than usual. _Ugh!_ The vanilla was too strong, the bitterness and sweetness of the chocolate and sugar too contrasting, conflicting with each other rather than blending well to give the desired result. Immediately, she went back to work. _One more try... Less sugar, limit the vanilla, maybe even remove it... I have to hurry up..._

But in her haste to prepare the next batch of ingredients, her hand accidentally knocked down the open bottle of honey and pack of sugar, the contents falling and spilling on the counter and the floor.

Horrified, Anzu snatched the containers and positioned them upright on the counter. Looking at all the sweet ingredients now wasted, she mentally cursed herself. It was bad enough that she didn't have much of them to work with in the first place; she couldn't afford to lose more. And yet she did. _Anzu, you idiot! Of all times you could have been careless, why _now_!_

Trying to bring her focus together, she approximated what remained of her alternatives and felt her heart drop. Based on her estimation, the amounts might barely be enough to produce any edible chocolate. Her eyes switched to the clock. Less than twenty minutes left. Her chest started pounding. _What should I do?_ She was left with just one last chance!

_Keep your calm, Anzu. You'll get it right!_ her inner self told her.

Anzu tried to listen to it but somehow found it hard to believe it. Her face creased. _What if I just stop now? This seems pointless._ If anything, she belonged on the dance floor, not in the kitchen.

_Come on, Anzu. You can still do it._

Anzu hesitated. _But there isn't much time left..._

_You can't give up now. It's not like you to do that!_

Maybe she was going nuts, having a pep talk with herself like this. But deep down, she knew the inner voice was right. _No, I can't give up!_ There wasn't much time left but she had to give it one more shot.

So Anzu resumed, using the latest modified recipe in her head but with less unsweetened chocolate and being extra careful in handling everything this time, putting all her hopes and determination in that one last chocolate. As she transferred the mixture to a medium heart-shaped mold she had bought earlier, she could only pray her ingredients would be adequate to get the results that she needed. _Please be sufficient... Please be sufficient... Please..._

As she waited for the chocolate to cool down, she prepared the pink wrapper and velvet ribbon she had also purchased along with the other ingredients on her way to school. By the time she had finished labeling the small card for the chocolate, the wall clock read past five already. Anxiety invaded her but she tried to shut it out of her system. _Everything will be all right,_ she told herself._ You'll see._

At last, the final product was done. Anzu carefully removed the chocolate from its mold, but a chunk broke off from the edge. It was minus points on her part but she could still forgive herself for that as long as the taste passed. It was, after all, what mattered most. Holding her breath, she took a bite of the chunk.

And all her hopes plummeted.

The chocolate's supposed light sweetness could hardly be detected by her palate. The flavors were one-sided, the bitterness dominating everything, making the chocolate outright flat and inedible.

_No... _Anzu stepped back. She rinsed her mouth hard with so much water until no taste lingered, refusing to accept the assessment of her taste buds as though they had erred at some point that she had to try testing the chocolate again just to prove it. _It should have worked. I've believed that it would!_

But no matter how much she tried to deny reality, it wouldn't change the fact that her one last attempt failed, and this time, she had no more ingredients she could work with to salvage her gift. Remembering how she had accidentally knocked down the stuff she needed earlier, Anzu mentally beat herself, regretting the loss. _It could have worked._ If only she hadn't been so careless, everything would have been enough. _It could have _worked!

Looking around at the mess she had made out of the kitchen, suddenly she felt tired for the first time since this morning. The clock now read fifteen minutes past five.

_He's waiting for me,_ she thought anxiously, taking the chocolate present and the package materials with one hand, the remaining chunk still in the other one. _I have to be there. I have to!_

But then reality yelled at her to come to her senses, making her still.

_Who am I kidding? _

Would she really dare give this sorry excuse for a gift to Dark Yugi? What would he think of her then? But even though she could try confessing to him without the chocolate, how could she be genuine about her feelings in front of him while secretly being bitter with herself? How could she hide it from him? Besides that, she couldn't leave without cleaning the Home Economics classroom; she would get into trouble if she did.

For the first time in her life, she wished Dark Yugi wouldn't appear at all.

Her body weighed down by tiredness, Anzu went over to the nearest wall, which was facing the door, and slid to the floor to sit down. Her eyes fell listlessly on the things in her hands, and she brought up the still unwrapped present to her line of vision. Suddenly it wasn't chocolate anymore but a shaped mass of ill-colored junk.

_He deserves much better than this,_ she thought, leaning her back on the wall. _This is just too awful_. Right now she just wanted to throw away this garbage but the trash bin was so far from her spot, and she was too exhausted to even move.

_Five minutes... Just five minutes of rest, maybe ten..._ Slowly, Anzu's eyes closed as her hand fell on her lap, the chocolate in her hold forgotten. _I'm so worn out._ As her grasp loosened a bit, the card and the lace fell on the floor. _Other Yugi... I'm sorry.._.

* * *

_Please meet me at the school gate tomorrow, 5:00 pm. It's very important. Your presence would mean a lot to me. __―__Anzu_

His footsteps were silent as he entered the room, the door closing behind him without a creak.

_There you are._

He approached the object of his search sitting on the floor, fast asleep. His observant gaze fell on the bowls coated with chocolate and other signs of kitchen activity, then on her. When he knelt down to her level, he looked down at what she was holding in her hand but the card on the floor bearing his name or identity didn't escape his notice. The tension in every fiber of his body dissipated, the tight hold of her note in his hand loosening.

"Really, Anzu, you had me worried." Anzu was, after all, never late for anything, especially on matters she deemed urgent and important. Breaking a piece of the chocolate in her hand, he brought it to his mouth. It was more on the bitter side than any other flavor but he continued to eat anyway.

"...Yugi..."

He paused.

"I'm sorry..."

He looked up.

Anzu still seemed asleep, maybe even dreaming, but her voice was apologetic. "It's not good enough... I can't... meet you after all..."

Crimson eyes, usually harsh in inflicting pain through Penalty Games, now softened slightly. "You've worked hard."

He leaned forward, gently holding the back of her head, and drew her close to him.

"Well done."

Murmuring, Anzu buried her head in his chest. "Y-Yugi...?"

He slowly let go of her, taking the entire chocolate with his left hand before settling down at her left side. Eyes trained ahead of him, he resumed consuming Anzu's chocolate.

"Why are you eating that..." Her eyes still closed, Anzu now seemed drifting somewhere between the state of sleep and of consciousness. Perhaps she had heard him move, perhaps she hadn't. But soon her eyes slowly opened as she stirred. Upon seeing Dark Yugi biting into her chocolate, her eyes flew open in alarm and her body jolted. "Oh no—Please don't eat that!" She tried to snatch it away from his hand but failed. "Yugi—You can't—It's not—Please—!"

But her protests didn't stop him from eating further, one third of the chocolate already gone.

"Please give it back to me," Anzu pleaded, watching him helplessly. "Yugi, please listen to me."

Dark Yugi brought the chocolate again to his mouth but then stopped when he saw the greatly troubled look on Anzu's face. Eating this chocolate was upsetting her. _He_ was upsetting her. He didn't mean to, and he mentally berated himself for it. All he had wanted was just to make her realize that he didn't mind.

_What should I do?_ Anzu thought in near panic, trying to come up with anything to salvage the current situation but ended up with none. Well, she _could_ say it was just an obligation chocolate and then... _No._ The heart shape would betray her words. Besides, that would be running away, denying her feelings for him just to save her skin. The more she witnessed him eat, the less she understood why, yet the more she was filled with dread about his judgment. "Please think of that chocolate as nothing." The words were spilling out of her mouth before she knew it. "It's not supposed to turn out like this. That's not what you're supposed to receive. I mean, it's nothing but a worthless piece of―"

"Anzu."

She halted.

"Thank you."

His words took her by great surprise. How she wished she could just easily believe him. _No, he couldn't possibly mean that._ He must be just being polite. Just trying not to humiliate her. He was just being careful with her feelings, that was all, but Anzu found pity far worse than direct rejection. Strangely, though, she found no hint of either on his features.

"You said earlier that this is not what I'm supposed to receive." Dark Yugi turned slightly and craned his head. "Then what _was_ I supposed to receive?"

Anzu was taken aback by his query. Suddenly his presence was as striking as his question, his eyes heavy on her as he waited for her answer. But she couldn't hide much now anymore. "Something _way _better than that. Something perfect. Anything but that_._" Her gaze fell on her lap. "It's not good enough. No, it's _horrible. _I was about to throw it away..."

"You can't get rid of something valuable like this."

She looked up in shock at his words. But soon the hope surfacing on her eyes faded. "Stop lying to me. You can't deny how awful it tastes. It's not even worth feeding to a dog." Frustration brewed in her eyes. "I shouldn't have tried to recreate it. Making that chocolate was a mistake—"

"Tell me. Do you _really _regret making it?"

She stopped, startled. "Yugi...?"

"For your own sake, I hope you don't regret it... because I certainly don't." He locked eyes with hers, regarding her seriously. "Not if it comes from you."

"Wh-What are you saying?"

The look in his crimson eyes grew intense. "I'm saying I don't throw away anything that is precious to me."

Rosy heat shaded her cheeks at this but soon the color faded a bit. "You don't understand. That gift is supposed to reflect what I think of you, how much you mean to me and... that..." She trailed off, debating with herself on whether it was still all right to say the next words, those words for which she made that chocolate in the first place.

He gazed at her intently, sensing her discomfort. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

Anzu looked away. "It's not that," she said softly. "It's just that I..." The lids of her eyes started closing halfway as tiredness resumed lulling her body again. Her mind was fogging already. "I..."

He inclined his head. "Anzu?"

Anzu leaned against the wall, her next words soft murmurs until they faded as her eyes fully closed.

_Anzu. _ For a while, Dark Yugi watched Anzu who seemed to have fallen asleep. _Go ahead. Rest as you want. _Then wordlessly, he draped his right arm on her shoulders and rested his hand at the right side of her head, pulling her closer so that her left temple would rest on his shoulder. He kept his hand that way, his gaze now fixed on the doorway as he bit again into the chocolate. He slowly melted it in his mouth, tasting all her effort, determination and frustration masked by the bitterness.

Turning his head, he studied Anzu. Her cheeks were tinged pink. Whether it was because she was embarrassed to give something below her expectations or because of what he had said earlier, or perhaps of what _she_ had just murmured, the King of Games wasn't sure. But whatever the reason, he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable around him. It was bothering him. He knew what today was all about, and he wasn't ignorant about all the traditions and implications it brought.

_And White Day is still one month away._ That succeeding tradition where guys respond to girls who gifted them chocolate on Valentine's Day by giving them an expensive present worth three times the cost or value of theirs, done out of obligation.

He knew he couldn't stay too long. He had to give back control to his host soon; after all, he was running on only borrowed time. But with what remaining time he still had, he was going to make every second worth it.

Dark Yugi finished the rest of the chocolate, the dark brown pieces melting in his mouth. "So this is what you've been trying to tell me." He turned to Anzu, whose eyes were still closed.

"Well then."

He leaned forward.

"Here is my answer."

He would not wait for White Day to respond.

And he would not respond just because he had to.

Anzu was breathing softly, her lips slightly parted unconsciously. "Y-Yugi...?"

He took her chin, closing his eyes as he brushed his lips on hers, soft and gentle at first. He continued to kiss her, the gentleness gradually melting into reassurance, affectionate care, and Anzu moaned softly in response.

Holding her by her arms, he took her softly, tasting her deeply, savoring her completely before his hand buried itself through her hair. As his free lean arm wrapped itself around her slim waist, he let his tongue slide over hers, coating it with that same chocolate she had made for him, and he drew her soft body closer to his. His mouth sucked her lower lip, enrobing it with the deep brown still lingering on his. As he went back up and melded his mouth on hers, he consumed her intensely, enjoying her, desire and excitement for her running through that kiss of sensual indulgence, flavored by possessiveness.

"Yugi..." Anzu moaned in pleasure, her cheeks flushing as her head tilted back against his hand. She didn't know how much part of her mind and body was conscious or how much part was just dreaming. Only that everything felt wonderful, that s_he_ felt wonderful, as she surrendered herself completely to the luxury of pleasure in knowing more of him through that long kiss. No more was the unpleasant property of the chocolate bitter but rather rich... complicated... mysterious. Dark in flavor yet running deep. She took in all that he was revealing to her, tasting him in all his depths, reveling and delighting in the gamut of conflicting yet coexisting feelings he had for her.

His mouth continued to dance upon hers, then slowed down, the sensuality fading, transforming itself into something rich and sweet. And then finally he softened everything, relaxing her, kissing her slowly but deeply. Slowly, with respect. Deeply, with trust.

And throughout it all, Anzu melted underneath him, sighing contentedly. "Yugi..."

As gently as when he had started, he let his lips drift from hers, releasing her from his hold...

* * *

Anzu's eyes slowly opened, then snapped wide, her body sitting upright with a start. "Yugi?"

She was met by silence. As she looked around, all that she saw was the mess she had left earlier, and she realized that she was just alone inside the room.

Her heart sank. _It was just a dream then._ Disappointment welled up in her. There was no way it could be real. Maybe it was just a mind's manifestation of what she wished would happen if Dark Yugi found her out. Only that he wouldn't, because she had stood him up.

_He probably left school already,_ she thought as she gazed at the sunset outside the window, realizing how late in the afternoon it was._ I need to get moving as well. I have to clean up all this mess before dark and__―_

She stopped, sensing something with her palate. _What...?_ She moved her tongue in her mouth. Something tasted...

_Bitter?_

Wondering, Anzu tried to sense the taste more. It was indeed a bitter flavor, an awfully _familiar_ bitter flavor... Her heart stopped as she felt her lower lip coated as well, and when she ran the tip of her tongue along it, she found that it _was _of that same taste.

But she had washed her mouth clean after sampling her last chocolate...

Then her eyes fell on her right hand, which she found containing only the wrapper. "Where is it? Where did it go?" Confused, she scanned all around her but, save for the remaining chunk in her other hand, the chocolate was nowhere to be found... and so was the card. Her heart beat faster. _It can't be..._

_I don't throw away anything that is precious to me._

Anzu leaned back on the wall, holding the wrapper close to her chest, a smile on her face as her eyes closed. _Other Yugi... You've appeared before me again..._ Happiness brewing in her heart, she could feel the phantom pressure of his hands in her hair and on her waist, of his warm mouth on hers, as he allowed her glimpses of the dimension of his being, of all that he could offer her and that all these were hers for the taking.

Through that chocolate kiss, she was able to taste his soul.

And through her shortcoming, his soul showed her how much he valued her, and no amount of failure on her part could ever stop him from loving her at all.

She took the last remaining piece of her gift into her mouth and savored it with all her heart.

Suddenly bitter chocolate had never tasted so sweet.

-The End

* * *

_I hope you enjoyed it. Please review and tell me what you think. Thanks! =)_


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